Sindh Agricultural & Forestry Workers Coordinating Organization (SAFWCO)

The Sindh Agricultural and Forestry Workers Coordinating Organization (SAFWCO) is a non-government, mid-level intermediary organization established in 1986 and registered in 1993 under the Societies Registration Act XXI, 1860. It deals with issues related to poverty and social deprivation in rural areas including:

  1. The conditions of peasants and rural women;
  2. Education;
  3. The role of feudal lords;
  4. The political climate in rural areas;
  5. Unemployment and low wages;
  6. Water logging and salinity;
  7. The role of civil society in rural development.

The organization believes in equal social, political, economic, and legal rights and security for all without discrimination. Our mission therefore is to help organize rural people and disadvantaged groups to claim these rights.
Organizational activities are carried out through four offices: three field offices at Shahdadpur and one liaison office in Hyderabad. The offices are:

  • The SAFWCO Resources Development Centre (SRDC);
  • A field office for social organization and credit and enterprise development (CED) sectors;
  • A health facilities office;
  • A liaison office at Hyderabad.

So far, the Organization has formed 72 male and 47 female community organizations and area development councils as a cluster comprising 30 male community organizations.
Credit and Enterprise Development
The CED sector aims to enhance the socioeconomic status of vulnerable groups through sustainable income generation activities. It operates in Sanghar District, Sindh specifically to:

  • Mobilize community groups to save;
  • Form male and female saving groups in villages;
  • Provide a credit facility for poor and vulnerable groups, especially women;
  • Accelerate economic development through local investment;
  • Create job opportunities;
  • Train potential entrepreneurs to develop and improve their managerial and technical skills.

The social organization sector identifies villages for credit and saving activities on the basis of their socioeconomic status. Programme officers of the CED sector then hold meetings with community organizations (COs) on credit and saving policies and form credit committees to identify the poor for loans and for monitoring the credit programme. Later, potential users are invited to submit applications for credit through credit committees (CCs). Applications are scrutinized and then recommended to the CED for credit disbursement. Members of CCs (guaranteeing proper use and recovery) give the final approval for credit. The targeting, processing, disbursement, utilization, and recovery procedures for credit are based on community participation.

Performance Indicator (The MIX)     Read More